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Oldest People Living in 2024
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Sep 12, 2024
After recently confirming the new oldest woman in the world and celebrating the oldest man's 112th birthday, Editor-In-Chief Craig Glenday looks back at the history of the oldest people records and the secrets to their long life.
View Video Transcript
0:00
This is 116 year old Tomiko Itouka from Japan
0:06
She recently became the oldest living person on earth. She can still communicate clearly often thanking her carers for their service
0:16
But can we gain any tips for increasing our own lifespan from Tomiko
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and other record holders like her? Well first it helps to be Japanese
0:27
In Japan the average life expectancy is 85 years old. So 88 for women and 82 for men
0:34
In fact nearly a third of those in our top 50 oldest people list are from Japan
0:41
The chain of islands known as Okinawa has 68 centenarians for every 100,000 citizens
0:47
So you'd do well to live there. You need to forget the fast food
0:52
and stick to the healthier options like fresh fruit and vegetables. The typical diet in Okinawa is low in calories and largely plant-based
1:03
And the centenarians there are living proof that this type of diet actually does work
1:08
Two-thirds of the islanders still live independently to at least 97 years of age
1:15
And yes independently as in living in their own homes, preparing their own food and tending their own gardens
1:21
Which leads to... So if you want to live a long and healthy life
1:26
you want to keep up your vitamin D levels. So get outside enjoy the fresh air and all the sunshine
1:32
This is what Kimura-san attributed to his long and healthy life. He was a postman who walked hundreds of miles every week
1:38
He was also a very keen gardener. So almost every super centenarian on our list enjoyed tinkering in their garden
1:49
It's a great hobby not just for keeping your mind fresh but increasing your vitamin D, keeping your body fit
1:54
and you also get to grow some healthy fruit and vegetables. Tomiko-san's favourite food is banana
2:01
And every morning she drinks calpis which is a drink made from fermenting skimmed milk with a specific bacterium
2:10
Her active lifestyle goes beyond just gardening too. Throughout her life she frequently summited mountains
2:18
and when she was in her 80s she was making 1000 kilometre long pilgrimages
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It's not just the body that needs to be stimulated, the brain does too
2:28
We've all heard that sudokus and crosswords are great for staving off dementia
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But if we look at any number of super centenarians we'll find that they're still enjoying hobbies late into life
2:40
At the age of 112 former oldest man Robert Whetton of the UK
2:44
spent hours whittling away at homemade windmills to keep his mind and body active
2:50
Kenny Tanaka at 117 enjoys the art of calligraphy and tackles a maths puzzle on a daily basis
2:58
So a positive outlook on life is also key. Whether you're learning something or whether you're teaching something
3:07
give it all you've got. It was recently the birthday of our current oldest living man
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John Alfred Tinniswood. He turned 112 years old. Very handsome man aren't you John
3:21
It's an impressive age of course but still four years younger than Tomiko
3:27
It's more often the case that the oldest living person in the world is female
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But why? Scientists aren't really sure why women have more luck in the ageing stakes
3:37
but it's probably something to do with the difference in our chromosomes
3:42
Women have two X chromosomes and men have an X and a Y chromosome
3:46
This means that a woman will have a spare backup X chromosome if something goes wrong
3:52
The other key player in ageing is thought to be testosterone. Testosterone is a sex hormone that's produced by both men and women
4:01
and it seems to play a role in determining how quickly we age
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In men 95% of our testosterone is produced in the testicles and studies have shown that animals with no testicles
4:13
tend to live longer than those that have them. A study of eunuchs, you know men who historically had their testicles removed before puberty
4:22
also reveals that they lived a much longer life compared with men
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who kept their crown jewels intact. Let's move on shall we? The person we're all looking to beat is Jean Louise Calment
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She lived to the incredible age of 122 years and 164 days
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and she put her success down to living her best possible life
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Calment was born not in Japan but in France in 1875 and lived an extremely active and fulfilling life
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Her hobbies included solving crossword puzzles, playing the piano, painting, rollerskating and hunting
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Just not all at once. She took up fencing at the age of 85 and she was still riding her bicycle at 100
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She became an actress at the age of 114 and in the same year became the oldest person to survive a surgical operation
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When she didn't even give up smoking until she was 117 she ate beef, she drank port and generally made the most of her 122 years on earth
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And this to me is what living your life is all about, living it to the fullest
5:29
So whether or not you reach a superlative age you'll at least have fun doing it
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and surely that's the point of having a long life. It's first and foremost about the quality
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So there we go. If you're a calorie controlling Japanese woman who enjoys gardening and sudokus
5:47
then congratulations you might just be in with a chance of living to 130 at least
5:53
and maybe even to 200 because advances in medical science are helping to push the upper limit of longevity even higher
6:01
and with more consistency. So there's a chance that someone alive today
6:05
someone watching this video, maybe even you will break Jean Calment's long-standing record
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Sadly because I'm a high calorie consuming obese male from Scotland who lives in a flat with no garden
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I won't be around to document your claim but someone from our Tokyo office probably will be
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Good luck. Thank you. You're very welcome. It's a pleasure to be here and to finally meet you
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One of our most famous iconic Guinness World Record holders. It's a real real honour and pleasure
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If you want to learn about some of our youngest record holders just check out this video
6:44
and for more record-breaking content subscribe. Bye
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